La Côte Basque

La Côte Basque was a New York restaurant. It closed on March 7, 2004. In an article about its closing, the New York Times said it was a "45-year-old former high-society temple of French cuisine at 60 West 55th Street." [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/13/nyregion/13restaurant.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5007&en=8e8b31f350767307&ex=1392008400&partner=USERLAND Eat and Be Merry; On Saturday 2 Classics Die] ]

In business for 45 years, it became "the setting of a catty and thinly veiled excerpt from an unfinished novel by Truman Capote." That novel was "Answered Prayers" and the chapter "La Côte Basque 1965" was excerpted in Esquire magazine in 1979. Diners included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Babe Paley and Frank Sinatra. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/18/nyregion/18COTE.html?ex=1379304000&en=6bd374b4f8028f2c&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND Côte Basque, a Society Temple, Is Closing] ]

History

Opened in the late 1950s by Henri Soulé, Jean-Jacques Rachou became it's owner and chef in 1979. At that time it was a block to the east, moving to the W. 55th location in 1995. It was "known as much for its elegantly arrayed tables, set against a backdrop of handsome French seaside murals, as for its food. Mr. Rachou said he spent more than $2,200 a week on flowers and more than $3,000 on linen." At the time of its closing, a fixed-price dinner at La Côte Basque was $70 per person, and an average à la carte meal was about $100, not including wine. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/18/nyregion/18COTE.html?ex=1379304000&en=6bd374b4f8028f2c&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND Côte Basque, a Society Temple, Is Closing] ]

A scene from the film Light Sleeper (1992), directed by Paul Schrader (writer of Taxi Driver), features Willem DaFoe and Susan Sarandon eating lunch in the restaurant.

External links

* [http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/040322ta_talk_gopnik"The New Yorker", "Talk of the Town: Dept. of Dining: Aftertaste", March 22, 2004, by Adam Gopnik.]

References